


Talkin Bout Regeneration

by TheVioletSunflower



Series: Re-gender-ation [1]
Category: Doctor Who, The Magnus Archives (Podcast)
Genre: Dysphoria, Hurt/Comfort, Jon is a time lord, M/M, Martin is a good boyfriend, Regeneration, The Doctor is a good mom, Trans Jon
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-03-28
Updated: 2020-03-28
Packaged: 2021-03-01 00:41:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,920
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23366365
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheVioletSunflower/pseuds/TheVioletSunflower
Summary: Jon regenerates, and is not happy with the body he ends up in.
Relationships: Martin Blackwood/Jonathan Sims
Series: Re-gender-ation [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1683457
Comments: 16
Kudos: 169





	Talkin Bout Regeneration

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Biology 101](https://archiveofourown.org/works/23059492) by [Kaiel](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Kaiel/pseuds/Kaiel). 



> This is based on the wonderful fic Biology 101 by Kaiel. It’ll make more sense if you go read that first, but for those who haven’t all you basically need to know is Jon is a time lord and the Doctor adopted him so now they share a familial psychic link.

“…sure he’ll be okay?”

“Jon will be fine. Sleep is a normal part of the regeneration cycle.”

Jon felt a hand gently squeeze his own. “And he’ll remember us, right?”

“Of course. Memory isn’t affected by the change.”

A sigh of relief. “Good. That’s good.”

“But Martin? You should prepare yourself. Sometimes there are… other things that change. Whole personalities can shift. Attitudes. Speech patterns. It can be a bit of a shock if you’re not prepared for it.”

“So… you’re saying he might not want me any more?”

“No! No, Jon will always want you! What I’m saying is there might be some other changes. The things you think you know about him might shift. Think of it like a new actor’s come to play Jon on a tv show. Same character as always, but a new interpretation. Like… how Jon likes tea prepared. Or the way Jon solves problems. Or how-“

“Why do you keep saying his name?”

There was a long silence.

“I suppose that’s another thing you have to prepare yourself for. Time lords don’t exactly have the same relationship to gender as humans do. It’s not as… fixed. It can change. And if you look at the form Jon’s taken-“

The grip on his hand tightened. “I don’t care about his body! Bodies aren’t genders!”

“I know they don’t have to be. But when forms change minds can too. You just need to be ready for the eventuality that Jon has become a woman.”

Jon’s eyes snapped open. “I’ve become a WHAT???”

The other two jumped at the sudden outburst, Martin dropped his hand in surprise before grinning. “You’re awake! Oh Jon I was so worried!” He leaned down to give Jon the best approximation of a hug he could while he was still lying in bed.

Jon lifted one arm to weakly squeeze Martin back. “I’m fine, Martin.” He winced. The voice that came out of his mouth wasn’t his own. “I- What were you saying about being a woman?”

“I wasn’t saying anything.  _ She _ was.”

The Doctor shook her head and started rummaging through her pockets for something. “I wasn’t saying it was a sure thing. Just that you had to be prepared for it. We have to let Jon see this new body first, and then Jon can make the decision about gender. Aha! Here it is.” She pulled a large hand mirror out of her pocket and handed it to Jon.

A stranger looked out of the mirror at him. His mouth fell open in surprise, and the stranger’s did too. “Is that… me?”

The Doctor nodded.

Jon touched his face, hardly believing what he was seeing. His skin was several shades darker than it had been before, and his eyes had changed too, darker and wider than they had been in his other body. His hair was longer too, coming down to his shoulders in black waves. And- it was a face he knew would be read by the world as female. He took a deep breath and slowly put the mirror down to lift the covers and look at his chest. He made a face. “Right. So that’s me now.”

“So?” Martin asked nervously. “Still a man, or?”

“Yes of course I’m still a fucking man!”

Martin flinched. “Sorry.”

He sighed. “No. No, you’re okay. It’s a valid question. You can- you can take my hand again.”

Martin did so, a touch nervously. “So, um, how are you feeling? Do you want some tea?”

Jon felt a wave of fondness wash over him. Martin and tea. That at least hadn’t changed. “Yes, I think tea would be good. But- I don’t want you to leave me.”

“No. I don’t want to leave either. I- Doctor? Could you go get some tea please?”

The Doctor started digging around in her pockets again. “Actually I think I may have a thermos somewhere in here for situations just like this. Still warm. Time lord tech. Very good for- And you were basically asking me to give you a moment alone weren’t you.”

Martin gave her an awkward shrug.

“Right. Well. I’ll leave the tea there then. Have fun. Or, er, good conversations or whatever. If you need me just holler.”

Jon sat up as she left, taking a sip of the tea and sighing in relief as the ionized particles flowed into his body. “Tea still tastes the same. Guess that’s a good sign.”

Martin gave him a weak smile. “So, how do you feel?”

Jon opened his mouth to make some sarcastic quip, but closed it again before he did. Martin didn’t deserve that. Instead he took a moment to take stock of his new body. “Physically, I feel all right. A bit uncoordinated but I think that’s normal right after regenerating.”

“That’s good. And… mentally? Emotionally?”

He sighed and closed his eyes. “Awful.”

Martin nodded. “Yeah. I can imagine.”

“It’s not even that I look like this it’s just- Fuck, I put so much work into that other body! And now it’s just gone.”

Martin nodded and silently ran his thumb over Jon’s knuckles.

“Like surgery. Hurt like hell! Hated it! Took weeks to recover! But it was supposed to be a one-time thing. Do it and it’s done. They’re not supposed to grow back!”

“I know. I’m sorry.”

“And my voice is all wrong! And my hair! And- fuck, Martin I had a beard! Do you know how long you have to be on hormones before you get a proper beard?”

“I-

“Five years! Five years it took! And now I have to start all over again!”

A voice came through the familial bond. _ If it’s a beard you want I know some lovely women on Venus who would be happy to- _

_ Shut up mom, get out of my head! _ He slammed the psychic connection shut, leaving only a thin line between them, through which he could faintly hear  _ Oh, right, other kind of beard.  _ He cracked the connection open again and pushed a vague feeling of regret and apology through, and waited for her answering feelings of love and understanding before closing the link again, more gently this time.

He sighed. “Mom. She’s trying to help, but I don’t think she gets it.”

“Yeah. Welcome to every queer kid’s relationship with their parents.”

He snorted. “Yeah. You’re probably right.”

Martin scooted up the bed so he could lean against the headboard and put an arm around Jon’s shoulders. “Hey. We’ll figure this out. Hair is easy. I can do it myself, or we can stop at any barber shop in the galaxy and get a trim. They could even probably dye it back to your old colour if you wanted.”

He shook his head. “No. I like the black. It’s nice.”

“Well there you go! There’s something you like about this body! Anything else?”

“… The eyes are good I guess.”

“They are. I like them too. Deep and beautiful.”

He smiled and pressed closer to Martin’s side.

“After we get your hair done, the next thing to do is figure out how to get the surgeries and hormones done again. Having to start over is frustrating, but it’s better than not starting at all.”

“If I even  can get them.”

“If they try to stop you I’ll give them a piece of my mind.”

“No, like, do we even know it’s possible for time lords to transition? You heard my mom. Their genders are different. She was a man for centuries, and then one day she regenerated as a woman and she just accepted it and she’s a woman now. What if they all do that? What if there is no time lord equivalent to HRT cause they don’t need it?”

“Jon, your species has been around for millennia. They all change bodies many times throughout their lives. You can’t possibly be the first person in all that time to not like the body they regenerated into.”

He sighed. “You’re probably right.”

“Your mom might know. And if she doesn’t then there’s got to be something in the TARDIS databank.”

He nodded and closed his eyes, gently reopening the psychic link.  _ Mom? _

_ Hello Jon _ . The words were accompanied by a surge of love and care so strong he almost cried from the intensity of it.

_ Can you come back in here? I have some questions. _

_ Of course. I’ll be right there . _

Jon sat up a bit straighter, but didn’t pull out of Martin’s embrace. “She’s on her way.”

The door opened as he was speaking. Jon suspected she had been waiting just on the other side. “Hey.”

“Hey. Sorry about before. Slamming the door on you.”

Martin looked a bit confused but the Doctor nodded. “It’s fine. I understand. First regeneration’s hard on all of us. How you feeling?”

Jon frowned, not sure how to answer. Finally he gave up and just pushed his emotions through the psychic link. All his fears and anxieties and the dysphoria he was feeling, but also the gratitude and love for both her and Martin taking care of him.

The Doctor sat down at the end of the bed and put a hand on his leg. “Those are some big feelings, kid.”

He nodded silently, leaning more into Martin, who pulled him closer.

“I can put some of them to rest at least. You’re not the only time lord who has ever felt this way. It’s not common, but it’s not unheard of by any means. Plenty of time lords over the years have not liked how they regenerated. But there are things you can do next time if you like to make sure this doesn’t happen again. Ways you can influence what body you get.”

Jon raised his eyebrows. “Really? You mean I could-“

The Doctor held up a hand. “Woah! I can see where your mind is going and no. It’s not worth regenerating on purpose.”

He felt Martin stiffen against him at those words.

“But if it will make me look right again…”

“No Jon. There are other ways that are far less dangerous, and that won’t use up your regenerative reserves.”

He nodded slowly. “For example?”

“There’s a planet in the Andromeda galaxy. Whole place is one giant clinic, dedicated to exactly this. They do gender reassignments for half the beings in this sector of the universe. Great work. And it’s all species welcome so they’d be happy to have you.”

Jon considered this for a moment. “You’re telling me there’s an entire planet out there that’s only full of trans people, and I’m only hearing about it now?”

She laughed. “There he is! That’s my Jon.”

He smiled. “And you’ll take me there? To the trans planet?”

“Yes. If that’s what you want. As soon as your regeneration cycle ends. If we did it now there’s a chance the leftover regenerative energy would just undo any changes we made.”

“Right. So that’s, what? A week? A year?”

“A few days at most. I wouldn’t make you wait a whole year between wanting this and being able to get it!”

He shrugged. “That’s how long the NHS made me wait first go around.” He smiled as Martin’s arm tightenedprotectively at that revelation.

She squeezed his leg. “Well I am not the NHS. We can go tomorrow. Now drink your tea and try to get some sleep. You’ll heal faster.”

Jon relaxed back against the headboard. A few days. He could handle that. It would all be okay.


End file.
